[mathking]

From a maximizing your effectiveness standpoint, balancing the coopertition bridge is probably more important than balancing your own bridge. You get two points if you balance it, versus possibly getting two points if the 10 points from a solo balance is enough to make your side win. But more importantly, if you can balance the coopertition bridge, you will be showing other teams that you can help get at least two robots on your alliance bridge in eliminations, making you more likely to get picked.

It is certainly true that winning with no coopertition is better than losing with coopertition, but you also have to factor in how likely you think each of those actions are to come to pass. Coopertition bridging is going to be much easier with cooperation arranged ahead of time, rather than if both sides are waiting to see whether they are winning or losing. (In fact, this is very close to the Prisoner's Dilemma.)

Remember, your strategy needs to work with your allies (and opponents) in each match. I don't think that stating flatly "We go for individual balance in the morning and coopertition in the afternoon" is the best way to go. You need to talk to your allies and opponents. If the opponents aren't planning to do the coopertition bridge, you can't. If you have two allies who are planning on balancing on the team bridge, you should go for coopertition.